City’s bid for EMS fees was a confusing sell for the public

BYRON DE ARAKAL

Ever the contrarian -- which lends this town a lot of its edgy charm

-- Costa Mesa remains one of the last Orange County hamlets yet to

shoehorn its residents into financing its paramedic services beyond

what already comes out of their wallets by way of property and sales

taxes and other sundry levies.

But that’s not to say it hasn’t jumped through hoops trying.

A protracted and valiant run by the city’s fire department to

establish an emergency medical services, or EMS, subscription fee

(more on what that is in a moment) crashed and burned last Tuesday

with a City Council rejection on a 3-2 vote.

The flameout didn’t surprise me. The torturous path the proposal

traveled for nearly a year was littered with confusing bureaucratic

detail and a blizzard of complex questions, to which many of the

answers were equally daunting. Missing, however, was a clear and

compelling message strategy as to why Costa Mesa residents should

begin paying a user-fee for a city-provided, taxpayer-funded service.

It was last July when the idea of an EMS subscription fee

surfaced. The city was tunneling in earnest for new revenue sources

to replace budget money routinely looted by the bandits in

Sacramento.

Of the handful of dollar mills the council noodled on, it was

particularly cuddly with the EMS fee. In a plain wrapper, the EMS fee

program would give residents the option of voluntarily paying nominal

annual dues in exchange for paramedic services -- should they ever

need them -- without charge.

Non-subscribing residents, on the other hand, would get a hefty

bill whenever the city’s fine and skilled paramedics paid a visit.

In January this year, Costa Mesa Fire Chief Jim Ellis laid out the

details of his department’s plan before the City Council. The essence

of it was this: Each Costa Mesa household and business (with

qualifying details too deep and clumsy to spell out here, which was

part of the problem), could volunteer to pay a $36 annual EMS

subscription.

In return, each member of that household or business would be

eligible to receive paramedic services -- should they have the

misfortune of needing them -- without charge. But folks opting not to

participate in the program would get knocked for $300 if and each

time they received paramedic assistance.

Once those details were disclosed, the locusts descended, picking

the thing apart with a flurry of questions often requiring layered,

complex answers. Twice and then a third time, the council postponed

its deliberations on the matter as they awaited clarifications and

language for a draft ordinance imposing the news fees. And each time

the item returned to the City Council’s agenda, it was accompanied by

an ever more dense stack of documents that only produced new

questions. The whole thing was like watching pretzel making.

Now throughout the trek, Councilman Gary Monahan and Councilwoman

Linda Dixon carried banners supporting the EMS fee. Council members

Katrina Foley and Eric Bever consistently demurred. Mayor Alan

Mansoor never seemed confident in the proposal. Costa Mesa residents

who followed the matter smelled a backdoor tax increase.

From where I sit, the city lost me for a couple of reasons. It

never painted a clear and compelling picture why any resident

choosing not to participate in the EMS subscription program should

begin paying $300 for a paramedic visit.

Costa Mesans already underwrite EMS services through taxes

appropriated from the city’s general fund to finance the operation of

the Costa Mesa Fire Department. Knowing that, the specter of a $300

paramedic felt like a gun to the head to coerce participation in the

$36 annual EMS program.

If and when the city attempts the idea again, it needs a better

message.

* BYRON DE ARAKAL is a writer and public affairs consultant and

city parks and recreation commissioner residing in Costa Mesa.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664 or contact him at [email protected].